*WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO TRANSMIT TO THE WORLD*

2pm turned into 3pm as the lady finished off her errands before coming to meet up with me by Avondale shopping centre. Nyasha stays pushing her hustle and trust that she won’t ever stop. I couldn’t miss her as she walked up to me in a white and blue striped shirt, which by the way was her granddad’s shirt, white skinnies and a pair of white heels. Did I mention her cute little blue mango bag, almost snatched it from her. She looked gorg, yes in her granddad’s shirt.

We secured a spot just outside creamy inn because we had to work. Nyasha Naome Mavu is not only a blogger as known by many she is also a composer and a singer who has chosen to keep that end of her many talents hidden. As a little girl she dreamt of being the next Tina Turner and so she used to compose songs and perform for her family. From composing songs she became that girl that put visions and feelings to paper through poetry. This is when she found her love for writing. ‘Talking is not my thing, I prefer to write. It’s the only way I can fully express myself with no fear,’ she says. Her marriage is set for many emotional letters from her to hubby because writing is her one way express!

‘I am a creative by birth, undeniable.’

Growing up her family would acknowledge the talents in her the urn around and remind her that school comes first. This is what each and every creative African child experiences. It is a must to concentrate on books and be the doctor or lawyer your parents have always dreamed you to be even if it’s not in you. A child often faces rejection if they choose not to be an academic. For Nyasha this pushed her away from her creative self, she became very quiet and would only write to express herself from the comfort of her room. ‘That part of me became my safe haven, my sanctuary. It was only after writing that I would read through a piece and realize the level of emotion in me. All my bottled up emotions and thoughts would find their way out.’

  
Having had set that aside she concentrated on school as expected of her. She finished high school and went on to university to study for two degrees. Yes, I said two. This girl is just a big package of brilliant. She has a Bachelors in Anthropology & Organizational Psychology and an Honours in Anthropology. After her degree she came back home and was super excited to get a job and become Miss Independent but Zimbabwe had other plans for this pretty lady. ‘Nobody told me that things were this bad, Buhle I applied online and dropped my CV anywhere and everywhere. I got to a point were I was applying for jobs I did not study for, that’s just how bad it became,’ she laughs.

‘There came a time when I applied to be a driver, I just needed something.’

The pressure was real for Nyasha because her parents felt as though she was not putting enough effort into looking for a job. It also came to a point where her degree choices were questioned and were summed as ‘unrealistic’ for Zimbabwe. This is when Nyasha sat back to think of what she really loved doing and a light bulb moment is all she needed, fashion merged with writing. In the beginning I just wanted to be a stylist and nothing more. ‘I saw this lady who is so rich but jus cold coordinate her clothes well, and my heart sank. I couldn’t help but offer my assistance,’ says the Stylesquad director. I just had to pause and think how she actually approached this woman without offending her at all. I mean can you imagine someone walking up to you and.. ok.. nevermind. S

‘It really started off as a joke till I decided to turn it into a brand..’

Nyasha ran the idea to kick off her blog to her friend Sascha Jokomo who also runs a blog. Sascha encouraged her and she logged onto wordpress and that was the beginning. ‘I remember my friends commenting and saying I am really good at what I do. In my head I couldn’t believe people were actually taking the blog and I seriously.’ She started this blog April 2014. Since then she has been called in by people to style their closets, write articles for different platform such as My Bulawayo and Toscie . My Bulawayo has asked The Stylesquad Mistress to be their fashion contributor and so has Tizwe. This just goes to show that she is definitely doing something right. Am I right?

‘I am a baby blogger but the opportunities that have come my way are amazing!’

Having had pushed thus far her family, excluding her sister who covers her photography, still has not shown much interest. The pressure on getting the job is off her shoulder since she got a job as a receptionist at a dental surgery. ‘My family knows I have a blog but they have not read it at all, I’m often sat down to be told I have no drive yet they miss it because they still don’t believe I am a creative.’ Many of the ideas that she has had she has somewhat doubted because of the doubt instilled in her by her family. This clearly breaks her heart so dearly and her only wish is that her family gets on track to support her dream and understand her better. ‘I try to sugar coat their response towards my dream and say maybe its love but that often sounds ridiculous in my head.’ However she has not run this race alone, her biggest supporters have been her two friends Sascha Jakomo and Ra Rwodzi. They have driven her to grow bigger as they both run blogs.

‘I wanted to open an online store at one point and when I told mama about it she questioned my ability to run a business.’

‘My blog has not only helped other people but it has helped me too, let me explain. I always believed that because I am dark no other hair color will work on me except for black. It took a day for me to try a new color for the blogs sake and I fell in love with color!’ If you have been watching her closely she looks real good in color. Most of the Stylesquad posts are centred around her surroundings and emotions expressed through fashion. Truly you can pick up on who she is just from reading her blog. I picked that she absolutely loves online shopping and her wardrobe is packed with Mr Price pencil skirts.

The challenges have not only been with her family but with the industry as well. ‘We had a Zim Blogger Beauty Week with two other Zim bloggers based in the UK. We posted it on facebook in groups two weeks in advance hoping to get help. But we got nothing.’ This did not stop them though they continued to work on it. When they kick started the response was great and only then did other bloggers start to show interest in it. They started to call in and ask to be a part of it. They had bloggers asking for links to post on their pages, which also showed they had not paid attention to their work until it was a hit. This goes to show how more often that once as humans we want to enjoy the fruits of other people’s hard work. This may also be the reason why our industry will not rise because we choose not to help each other. Rather we look down upon each other and rate the next person according to unknown standards.

‘The fashion industry is so clicky, if you not in with the cool kids then you are out in the cold!’

‘I remember posting a link to my blog on a group on facebook the other time, its all about fashion. And the women there started attacking me, I was called an ‘attention seeking insta-whore.’ That was just the worst and so one woman comes through to defend me and mentions that I am a blogger. Oh lawd, that just opened a whole new can of worms right there.’

Let’s just let this sink in, how is it that as women we hate each other so much. This level of name calling is appalling especially for people that don’t even know each other at all. It’s so sad how we fail to correct each other with love if need be, our tongues sure are our worst enemy. Before I go all Oprah Winfrey on ya’ll let’s get back to Nyasha’s story.

‘It was a Sunday by the way, hanzi, “Blogger? Musandibvise pana Mwari ndabva kuchurch. Iblogger pakai ipapa?” I was lost for words. It dampened my day completely. All I wanted was approval for my write ups but I got attacked by people who never even read a thing. I guess these are the ups and downs of blogging.’

  
Nyasha Mavu is now based in Dubai, working full time in the fashion industry. God has placed her where she belongs after a long struggle, so happy for this fashion diva. If you check out her blog she has ventured into a male feature and she has a Dubai issue too! Keep watch for her online store too, I cannot wait to shop!!

We love you Fashion Diva, keep shining boo boo!